Means for fixing rails on sleepers of railways.



Patented Feb. 6, I900.

F. HENNEBIHUE. MEANS FOR FIXING RAILS 0N SLEEPERS OF- RAILWAYS.

(Application filed July 21, 1899.)

(No Model.)

PATENT FRANQOIS HENNEBIQUE, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

MEANS FOR FIXING RAILS ON SLEEPERS OF RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 642,745, dated.February 6, 1900.

Application filed July 21,1899. Serial No. 724,701 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANooIs HENNEBIQUE, a citizen of the Republic ofFrance, residing at 54: Boulevard St. Michel, Paris, France, haveinvented. certain new and. useful Improvements in Means for Fixing Railson Sleepers of Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention such as will enableothers skilled in he art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The invention which forms the object of the present application relatesto a peculiar means for fixing the rails of railway-lines, and is moreparticularly applicable for sleepers of other substances than iron andwood, and especially for sleepers made of strengthened beton or cement.The means for fixing must comply with various conditions; it must enablestrains which tend to raise or lift the rail to be resisted withoutdeteriorating the sleeper; it must avoid longitudinal displacement andwidening or spreading of the track, and, further, allow of the railbeing easily and rapidly removed. These conditions, which seemincompatible, more particularly with the use for the sleeper of amaterial such as strengthened cement or beton, which only possesses avery slight actual elasticity, are realized by the arrangement which Ihave adopted. In the joint which I shall now describe and which I haveshown in detail in the accompanying drawings the fixity is regulated, soto speak, automatically.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section along the axis of the joint of asleeper and rails mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view.Figs. 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, and 5 are details of the keying or fixingdevices,while Fig. 6 is a view of another arrangement for holding therail in position.

The outer flange p of the foot of the rail R is fixed by a clamp A,bedded in the sleeper, and consequently forming one piece with it. Thisclamp is shown in front and side elevation, respectively, in Figs. 5 and5*, and may in certain cases be replaced by a cement packing A, placedbetween the neck of the rail and a projection A formed on the sleeperand arranged for this object, as is shown in the modified form ofconstruction in Fig. 6.

The essential characteristic of my invention consists in the means forfixing the internal flange p of the foot of the rail. A first groove orrecess (indicated in plan view by a b c d of Fig. 2 and in section by ef g h of Fig. 1) is formed in the axis of the sleeper at the side of theflange p of the foot of the rail. After the rail has been placed inposition a piece B (shown in detail, respectivelyin longitudinal andlateral elevation, in Figs. t and 4) is first engaged in said groove orrecess, and, secondly, a piece 0. (Shown in detail, respectively inlongitudinal and lateral elevation, in Figs. 3 and 3%) B is a largeclamp having a widened base B B Fig. 4:, and longitudinal faces 13 B B Btapering from the summit to the base.

0 is a horseshoe-shaped piece of metal, the arms of which bear by meansof a longitudinal face 0 0 Fig. 3, on the face 13' B of the clamp A.This face tapers from C toward 0 so as to beparallel with BB The othervertical face 0 C bears on the vertical wall h g b d of the recess a b cd e f g it, formed in the sleeper.

It is immediately seen that any tendency to raise or lift the foot pcorresponding to a tendency to widen or spread the track would be shownby a raising of the clamp B, which, with its inclined plane B B,wouldslide down the corresponding inclined plane of the arms (3 C of thehorseshoe O. This latter would immediately descend by its own weight,and

the fixity of the whole of the joint would reof a tool introduced intothe slot or recess 1' j 70 Z to seize or grip the horseshoe O by itshorizonral flange and release it from the joint.

I claim-- 5 In combination, the rail, the sleeper having 2t recess inits upper side, a clamp engaging the rail and fitting in the recess anda, piece of horseshoe shape fitting between the clamp and the wall ofthe recess, said piece being removable when upward pressure is appliedbe- [0 tween the limbs of the horseshoe, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

FRANQOIS HENNEBIQUE. Witnesses:

EMILE BERT, 2d, EDWARD P. MACLEAN.

